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Doom 4 Development "Not Going Well," RAGE 2 Canceled

One of these days, id Software is going to have to realize that five, six, seven years for development is no longer acceptable. ...wait, was it ever?

Doom 4 has been in the works for a while; in fact, throughout the majority of this past generation. But now Bethesda has confirmed that a "new version" of Doom 4 is in the works, which clearly indicates a next-gen release. We just don't know when.

Sources speaking to Kotaku say the release date is up in the air and sadly, development is "not going well." Said Bethesda marketing boss Pete Hines:

"An earlier version of Doom 4 did not exhibit the quality and excitement that id and Bethesda intend to deliver and that Doom fans worldwide expect. As a result, id refocused its efforts on a new version of Doom 4 that promises to meet the very high expectations everyone has for this game and this franchise. When we're ready to talk about the Doom 4 id is making, we will let folks know."

Furthermore, after RAGE didn't meet sales expectations, Bethesda parent company ZeniMax cancelled the upcoming sequel and "downsized" plans for RAGE DLC. We don't care what anyone says; that game rocked and we really wanted a sequel. However, that's another example of super slow development, as it took a good six years to reach the market.

Is there any particular reason this problem only seems to affect PC-oriented developers? Vaporware was coined in that realm; i.e., Duke Nukem Forever, Diablo III, Starcraft II, etc. Why does it take so long?

As for PC games and slow dev cycles, the first thing that comes to mind is when a project doesn't meet the expectations of the developer these games are often halted or postponed until they feel they have something worth publishing. In the case of Duke Nukem Forever, the parent developer abandoned the project. Then eventually Gearbox stepped in and vouched to do it.

I've noticed there's a good amount of pride associated with some of these creator's creations, particularly from the PC realm.

It doesn't surprise me that most of the best games this console generation ARE from notorious PC devs. While many have gone multiplatform, most came from PC's domain of creators. You name it, titles and studios like Bioshock, Dishonored, Elder Scrolls, Bioware brand RPGs, Deus Ex, Half-Life, Call of Duty, Battlefield, Bungie, Rage etc come from the heart of PC's domain.

Blizzard is their own ball of wax. Starcraft Ghost and Warcraft Adventures were canned because they didn't live up to their own expectations, despite their long media exposure. They figured those games weren't right, despite their efforts to try and get them there. Rather than making that 'business' decision of forcing products to the market to try and recoup R&D losses they decided it better to not hurt their reputation of quality and stick to releasing only titles they themselves are proud of. That's respectable by me. Oh and Starcraft 2 is like a national sport in some countries so getting it dialed in just right for competitive play makes it totally unique from many other games. The game was in beta stages forever.

...but of course Blizzard isn't the same today as they were yesterday so Diablo 3 and stuff seemed to be a mixed bag. not sure what the future is for them guys now.

but overall I think the majority of games, PC or not, that are announced DO release as intended within a reasonable amount of time. I'd imagine 95+ percent of them. It's just certain hot high profile games garner a whole lot of clout during their dev cycle, and a few of them just don't live up to standards of their creators so unfortunately the get the ax.

I would've liked to have seen Star Wars Battlefront 3 but oh well.Last edited by Temjin001 on 4/3/2013 12:33:06 PM

I'm glad that Rage 2 got cancelled, I thought that Rage sucked. The only redeeming quality it had was the enemy movement and AI. Otherwise the game's story was a complete waste of time and the game itself was incredibly boring.

As far as Doom 4 goes though, I'm pretty disappointed to hear that they can't get their resources together to continue one of the most revered and well known franchises in gaming. It seems to me that the developers have lost their edge with spending so much time on one project.

RAGE was awesome! I loved the weighted feeling every bullet had when it hit an enemy and good variety of weapons. It really did have that old school id like feel to it. It's too bad we're not getting a squeal. On the other hand a DOOM 4 could be pretty bad ass.

I found Rage incredibly boring to be honest with ya, I can't bring myself to play it more. It sounds like after all this time they are NOwhere on Doom 4, so yeah id is in real trouble. How hard could it be to make a Doom game in this day and age?

Like Ben, I enjoyed Rage. The physics and AI were very good. The graphics were amazing. I always love the post-apocalyptic setting. The story, however, was rushed into a conclusion. My almost perfect game would be the RPG-like depth of Fallout with the shooting mechanics, AI and graphics of Rage.

Too bad about RAGE, it was such a great beginning of something. It was ridiculously good looking of course, but other than that it felt... It felt like a great franchise in the making. We could see the contours of something really special.

I will admit, I was the only out of 4 people at work that was not impressed with Rage. I did not see anything new, but like I said, I was 1 out of 4. I was a big id software since the original Doom and heck.. even their Commander Keen games. So it saddens me that the other 3 out of the 4 won't be getting a sequel to Rage. Well, not really.

As for Doom 4 if thats the going label for it. I moved on from that series long ago and I don't want them to make the same mistake with continuing the series like the Duke Nukem fiasco. My advice is not to call Doom 4 but give it a new iteration that makes it distinct, with a new storyline. Doom and Doom 2 were fun for the time. Mindless shooting and illogical secret areas. It was fun.. for the time. TImes have changed and as much as I like nostalgia Doom needs to as well.

In the end though, whatever works, but I am in no rush for a hack of game. I would rather they take their time for the next gen console, come up with decent story and characters and if they want to get nostalgic... bring back the BFG and its siblings. I am sure it can all work together if done right.

I am sad to hear about Rage 2 being canceled. Rage was a good game, extremely overhyped, but a good solid game. I was hoping that the sequel would be better. On a side note did any one enjoy the multiplayer like me? It just needed more people.

hows it a PC exclusive problem?heavy rain, heavenly sword, haze, i am alive, splinter cell conviction, too human, alan wake, LA Noire, max payne 3, gran turismo 5, aliens colonial marines, and thats just naming the games that actually ended releasing.or do i need to mention final fantasy versus 13, agent, the other ape escape game (at E3 when the move title was announced they announced another title by SCEJ a full fledged sequel which still is yet to release!)the agency which was finally announced to be canceled.oh yes and how could i forget the last guardian?the game that was reported on by a BBC reporter in secrecy in 05, so the games been in development and shown to select few, for AT LEAST EIGHT freaking years and we still have zip to go on!thats almost taken DNFs reccord, and that only got delayed so much because 3D realms is what, 1000th the size of SCEJ?and it was shifted from UE2 to UE3 to a custom engine back and forth so many times!if anything its a $ony exclusive problem.plus at least PC developers give you some info to go on!all $ony ever spits out is we have not announced any further details, yea thanks that really helps quell our worries!in short if i had a nickel for every console developer who has had their game go into development limbo id be the richest man alive!PC only problem..... OH PLEASE!

back on topic though, for f*cks sake id what the hell is wrong with you!?this generation has been good for one, and only one thing.DESTROYING the BEST developers out there!F*ck it, id for the love of god, can doom 4 and give us a RAGE sequel!at least that cant disappoint many because most hated RAGE.just goes to show most people would not know a good game if it smacked them in the face!

sigh.always knew being bought out by zenimax would be the death of id!did not have to prove me right so early though.zenimax may know how to make some awesome games, but my god do they know how to f*ck everyone in the process!every game they release bends someone over royally.bugthesda games, well we call them bugthesda for a reason.dishonoured was one of the most over hyped disappointing miss marketed games out there!RAGE, well they have f*cked id pretty royally!and the less said about prey 2 the better!oh thanks, that just gave me a new title for my above list!

I really love the AI in the game, the enemy movements were great, non-repetitive and original; made fighting against them enjoyable. Besides that, did not care AT ALL for the game. It didn't draw me in, no reason to care, wonder, or become interested in this world. Mega-textures, real-time AO, and amazing graphics are cool, but looking at the game is only half the battle.

@WorldEndsWithMe: That pop-in problem is a issue for a lot of games in the past 2 years or so. One reason why I'm looking forward to next-gen (should be fixed with newer hardware.)

p.s. Did not know they were producing a sequel. Doom? Yeah right...Last edited by ransomink on 4/5/2013 6:34:46 AM